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Foreign Words / AI or IA?
I recognize that languages influence each other. I acknowledge that English has become the “Esperanto” of the financial market and international trade, and there’s no point debating it, besides using many abbreviated and practical words, such as A.S.A.P., OK, and “Help.” The same happens with new words, created and/or adapted to meet the demands of technological novelties, for example, “blog,” which comes from “web-log,” essentially a “public diary.” Would “record” be more

Miguel Fernández
Nov 7, 20253 min read


Clean up sanitation
Water and sewage services need to be and can be self-sustainable, not least to avoid overloading the health sector, since they are...

Miguel Fernández
Jun 12, 20254 min read
"Sergeant Barefoot, the 'Apple Guy'"
It was January 2021, and the world seemed to be emerging from a semi-standstill that had begun in March 2020, caused by efforts to combat...

Miguel Fernández
May 9, 202512 min read


Reflections
Seriously speaking, Roberto Carlos (1941, from Cachoeiro, Espírito Santo), and his constant partner, Erasmo Carlos (also from 1941, from...

Miguel Fernández
Apr 29, 20255 min read


Destination
ES - Engineering-Science Inc. was an American company (Pasadena?-CA) focused on consulting and project design, very active and important on a global scale, especially where the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Alliance for Progress (a U.S. program to stimulate politically Western economies) were involved. Its specialty was water supply and sanitary sewage systems. In Brazil, its headquarters were in Rio, with the board composed of two foreigners, Engin

Miguel Fernández
Mar 21, 20253 min read


About engineering education (part 1)
As a practicing engineer, with two sons who are active engineers and a grandson studying engineering, all, like me, at our beloved UFRJ,...

Miguel Fernández
Mar 19, 20254 min read


Reminiscences, The Oldest Memory
A recurring topic of conversation at bar tables and in homes is “What’s your earliest memory in life?” In one of these conversations,...

Miguel Fernández
Jan 22, 20254 min read
Survival
It was 1966, and Carlos, my high school classmate, had passed the entrance exam for engineering at his first choice. Needing to work to...

Miguel Fernández
Dec 16, 20242 min read
The Consultant
The civil engineer Cláudio Manfrini was the principal consultant in Water Treatment at Comasp (now Sabesp). It was no small feat; we were...

Miguel Fernández
Dec 12, 20242 min read


The combination is not expensive
It was 2007, and QQ Construções, an excellent and traditional Brazilian construction company, aimed to win a contract for urban...

Miguel Fernández
Dec 12, 20245 min read
The Engineering Club in RJ
Open Letter to the Members of the Engineering Club and to Engineers in General 01_ It is well known that the Engineering Club, engineers,...

Miguel Fernández
Dec 12, 20243 min read
The Corpse
School of Engineering at UFRJ, 1969, 4th-year Civil class. There were many students from other states. I became friends with Manuel...

Miguel Fernández
Dec 12, 20244 min read


The Lodge, part 1
Sitting Bull Gustavo de Almeida Nóbrega was a man from Patos, Paraíba, the son of a small rural producer, who arrived in Rio de Janeiro...

Miguel Fernández
Dec 12, 20246 min read
Nominations
One of the most frequent topics in any conversation circle is about the strange names given to people by their parents, surely with the...

Miguel Fernández
Dec 12, 20244 min read
In Bahia, it’s Bahian!
In 1998, I spent five days in Angola for work. Angola was in the midst of a full-blown civil war. During these five days, we were...

Miguel Fernández
Dec 12, 20242 min read
Lower price, maybe?
The Hiring of Engineering Services (and certainly others) Using the "Lowest Price" as a Decision Factor is a Grave Mistake It is...

Miguel Fernández
Dec 12, 20242 min read
Marraio
The Last Woman? In the marble games of his childhood in Rio de Janeiro, in the years 1955-61, from 9 to 14 years old, he learned that...

Miguel Fernández
Dec 12, 20242 min read
Two more from Enaldo
These stories were told to me by the excellent engineer Fernando Penna Botafogo Gonçalves, a great friend and delightful person, who...

Miguel Fernández
Dec 12, 20242 min read


Laura
Someone once said that the best partner is the one we meet at a glance because we haven't had time to notice their flaws. Now, imagine a...

Miguel Fernández
Dec 12, 20243 min read
Japoguês
Our professional environment in São Paulo during the 1970s and 1980s included two very well-known and highly competent Niseis: Eduardo...

Miguel Fernández
Nov 11, 20241 min read
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